Practice of companion planting is one of the fundamentals of natural farming. Generally it involves 2 plants, tomato and basil for example and one or the two plants benefits to the other. The method developed by the Iroquois in the years 1600 or before was based on the association, with a good timing, of 3 plants: corn, beans and squash. The Three Sisters were the principal crops of the Iroquois and other Native American groups in the north-eastern United States, at the time Europeans arrived here about 1600. At the New York State Museum, a diorama shows us how looked like an Iroquois agricultural field. Note the size of the corn, impressive and there are no chemicals...

Before the technique let see the legend:

“A long time ago there were three sisters who lived together in a field. These sisters were quite different from one another in their size and way of dressing. The little sister was so young that she could only crawl at first, and she was dressed in green.

The second sister wore a bright yellow dress, and she had a way of running off by herself when the sun shone and the soft wind blew in her face.

The third was the eldest sister, standing always very straight and tall above the other sisters and trying to protect them. She wore a pale green shawl, and she had long, yellow hair that tossed about her head in the breeze.

There was one way the sisters were all alike, though. They loved each other dearly, and they always stayed together. This made them very strong.

One day a stranger came to the field of the Three Sisters - a Mohawk boy. He talked to the birds and other animals - this caught the attention of the three sisters.

Late that summer, the youngest and smallest sister disappeared. Her sisters were sad.

Again the Mohawk boy came to the field to gather reeds at the water's edge. The two sisters who were left watched his moccasin trail, and that night the second sister - the one in the yellow dress - disappeared as well.

Now the Elder Sister was the only one left.

She continued to stand tall in her field. When the Mohawk boy saw that she missed her sisters, he brought them all back together and they became stronger together, again.”

 I think you begin to see why we can speak of an original companion planting technique. We will see in the second part how to practice the 3 sisters’ technique.